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911 Break In
Location: Madera, California Date: November 1, 1990 Story On the morning of November 1, 1990, in Madera, California, eleven-year-old Katrina Ruelaz woke up with a sore throat. Her parents, Irma and Martin, arranged for her to stay home from school. They were already at work at 9am, so she looked after her ten-month-old baby sister, Araceli, until their grandmother could pick them up. She was watching television when she suddenly heard the doorbell ring and someone knocking at the door. Katrina immediately called Irma at work. "I told Katrina, 'If you don't know who it is, don't answer the door,'" remembers Irma. All of the sudden, she could hear three men get in the garage and rattle the doorknob. She went into her room and grabbed Araceli, and they both hid under the bed. She called Irma again and told her that they were in the garage. "I thought I lost my kids, and that I wasn't going to see them again. I just wanted to come home and be there first, but she wanted someone here fast. That's when she thought of 911," said Irma. At 9:45am, dispatcher Heidi Fully took the call. Katrina was crying and told her that the suspects were in the garage trying to break the doorknob. "The thought of this being a child; what's gonna happen, it's nerve wracking, but on the other hand you know you're not gonna be able to help that child unless you remain calm and get the people to respond," said Fully. She could hear Araceli crying and the doorknob rattling in the background. Officer Brian Chapisollie was doing paperwork at the jail when he was notified of the incident. "I have two small children of my own. The fact that Fully was on the phone with her that was the only life child we had. We knew that the child was okay," said Officer Chapisollie. Katrina was crying and very scared. The suspects broke the doorknob and got into her house. "Once the suspects were in the house, the urgency became intense. Were they actually just burglarizing the house or were they after the kids?" said Fully. Officer Robert Sallis was the first officer to get to the house. "It took me about two minutes to arrive at the scene. I was going upon the assumption that they were most likely armed," said Officer Sallis. The police were finally in the room and Fully let Katrina hang up. "At the point when we got Katrina and her little sister out of the house I was satisfied that they were okay. If we never catch these guys, I don't really care. Of course I do want to catch them," said Officer Chapisollie. Once the house was clear, Officer Sallis continued the search outside. "I determined that the suspects may have hidden west bound to the canal," said Officer Sallis. When a neighbor was questioned, he said that he saw three youths running and gave a description of what they were wearing. Police chief Gordon Skeils, who knew the area well, headed for a place where the suspects might emerge from the canal. "They took off running up over the bank and I lost sight of them," said Skeils. Officer Davian Bendae then the spotted them and tried to keep them in sight. He could see them jumping over fences. Officer Bendae saw one of the suspects climbing over a fence and took off back. Sergeant Jeffrey was in charge and had his police dog catch the suspect. "As the other officers arrived, we began to fill in the gaps we had," said Sergeant Jeffrey. About forty minutes into the search, two of the suspects eliminated the officers. Another neighbor yelled to Sergeant Jeffrey that a young man with a baseball cap ran into his backyard. Deputy Patrick Lajensky was approaching from the other side of the yard. "I knew I was close. I knew he was in there somewhere." said Lajensky. He spotted the suspect coming out of the bush and yelled at him to put his hands on his head and crawl out. Forty-five minutes after the search began, the first suspect was taken into custody. The search for the other two continued. Shortly after, Officer Chapisollie said he spotted the second suspect, told him to go down to his knees, and handcuffed him. "He basically threw his hands up and said, 'I had enough'. I was quite pleased for what we accomplished that day," said Officer Chapisollie. Though the third suspect got away, he turned himself in eight days later. All three pleaded guilty and were sentenced to sixty days in juvenile hall, community service, and restitution. Martin was thankful that Katrina knew what to do in an emergency. "I felt so good just to see them alive," said Martin. Katrina wanted to meet Fully, so Irma had the next day off and they went and thanked her. On November 15, the Madera Police Department gave Katrina a reward in recognition for her enthusiasm. "I'm not scared anymore because it's all over with and it won't happen again. But if it does, I know how to use the 911 system," said Katrina. Category:1990 Category:California Category:Robberies Category:Crimes